Thief makes off with mayor's Christmas decorations

Published: Monday, December 10, 2012 at 05:53 PM.

The mayor of fictional Whoville has nothing on
Burlington
’s mayor in the stolen Christmas decorations department.

A local Grinch hit the home of
Burlington
Mayor Ronnie Wall over the weekend, making off with two large inflatable yard decorations.

And the perpetrator wasted little time.

Wall said he put together his winter wonderland on Saturday, in preparation for the neighborhood children and families who annually check out his yard along
Meadowood Drive
. He said his next-door neighbor was excited the decorations would be up in time for her visiting grandkids to see them, and Wall said several kids want to have their pictures taken next to the 12-foot Santa Claus that usually has a spot of prominence in the yard. In addition to the giant Santa, Wall has an 8-foot snowman and a hot-air balloon with a St. Nick in its basket.

“I worked so hard on that project Saturday afternoon,” Wall said. “It takes you forever to put it together.”

On Sunday morning, only the air balloon remained in Wall’s yard.

“It’s too complicated to take apart,” he said. The snowman and Santa were gone, which surprised Wall since his house is lit at night by LED lights on timers.

The mayor of fictional Whoville has nothing on Burlington’s mayor in the stolen Christmas decorations department.

A local Grinch hit the home of Burlington Mayor Ronnie Wall over the weekend, making off with two large inflatable yard decorations.

And the perpetrator wasted little time.

Wall said he put together his winter wonderland on Saturday, in preparation for the neighborhood children and families who annually check out his yard along Meadowood Drive. He said his next-door neighbor was excited the decorations would be up in time for her visiting grandkids to see them, and Wall said several kids want to have their pictures taken next to the 12-foot Santa Claus that usually has a spot of prominence in the yard. In addition to the giant Santa, Wall has an 8-foot snowman and a hot-air balloon with a St. Nick in its basket.

“I worked so hard on that project Saturday afternoon,” Wall said. “It takes you forever to put it together.”

On Sunday morning, only the air balloon remained in Wall’s yard.

“It’s too complicated to take apart,” he said. The snowman and Santa were gone, which surprised Wall since his house is lit at night by LED lights on timers.

He said he didn’t know whether the person who took his decorations intended to use them or sell them. Wall said he originally spent about $200 on the Santa and $80 on the snowman.

“I can’t figure out if I need to be going on Craigslist or eBay, or going to a pawn shop,” or if his inflatables are sitting in someone else’s yard, he said.

“It’s very disheartening,” said Wall. “That is just disappointing that people would do that.”

Wall, on the other hand, doesn’t want to disappoint the kids who look forward to his seasonal decorations, and said he plans on replacing the Santa. And this time, Wall said he’ll have a motion-sensing camera nearby to catch any would-be vandals.